NTNU nanotech, medicine attract the best

(21.07.2009)Three of Norway's five most competitive university programmes are at NTNU, according to government admissions figures released this week.

For students fresh out of secondary school, NTNU's 5-year master's programme in nanotechnology was the most competitive course of study in Norway, with the highest grade point requirements, according to the Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service (NUCAS). NTNU's nanotechnology programme has 25 places, but more than 900 students applied for the programme, with 194 of these listing it as their first choice.

NTNU's 6-year long medical school programme was just behind nanotechnology in terms of grade point requirements for post-secondary school students, making it the most competitive medical programme in the country for this student group. A third course of study, industrial economics, was the fourth most difficult programme in the country for these students to be accepted to.

Point system determines student placement Norway uses a point system to assign places to university students based on the student's academic performance and other factors, including military service and, for some courses of study, gender. All told, 104,238 students applied for places at Norway's 7 universities and 39 university colleges. Fully 88 per cent of these students were offered a place at a university or university college of their choice, although the competitive nature of the process meant that just 65 per cent of applicants were offered their first choice of programmes.